During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his "indecision" and "moral equivalence" may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine. Palin said then:

After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next.

For those comments, she was mocked by the high-brow Foreign Policy magazine and its editor Blake Hounshell, who now is one of the editors of Politico magazine.

In light of recent events in Ukraine and concerns that Russia is getting its troops ready to cross the border into the neighboring nation, nobody seems to be laughing at or dismissing those comments now.

Now consider the following events, all of which were either widely reported, publicly released by officeholders or revealed later in testimony to Congress. These are the dots the media refuse to connect:

• Jan. 27, 2010: President Obama criticizes Citizens United in his State of the Union address and asks Congress to "correct" the decision.

• Feb. 11, 2010: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) says he will introduce legislation known as the Disclose Act to place new restrictions on some political activity by corporations and force more public disclosure of contributions to 501(c)(4) organizations. Mr. Schumer says the bill is intended to "embarrass companies" out of exercising the rights recognized in Citizens United. "The deterrent effect should not be underestimated," he said.

• Soon after, in March 2010, Mr. Obama publicly criticizes conservative 501(c)(4) organizations engaging in politics. In his Aug. 21 radio address, he warns Americans about "shadowy groups with harmless sounding names" and a "corporate takeover of our democracy."

• Sept. 28, 2010: Mr. Obama publicly accuses conservative 501(c)(4) organizations of "posing as not-for-profit, social welfare and trade groups." Max Baucus, then chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, asks the IRS to investigate 501(c)(4)s, specifically citing Americans for Job Security, an advocacy group that says its role is to "put forth a pro-growth, pro-jobs message to the American people."

Editor's note: While this email was delivered 'over the transom', I have verified several aspects of the story including the the participants in the lecture series. I have redacted the full name of the original author.

Alan Simpson of Simpson-Bowles fame lays out his experience in dealing with the President

As you have heard me say before that volunteering at the Bush Center library is a "great gig". I could write about my great experiences daily; but today was one of the highlights, so far…

Southern Methodist University has a lecture series called the Tate Lecture Series which has a significant speaker every month from September to May. Last month was Charles Krauthammer and last night was Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson. Tickets to those events are like "hens teeth" and they are passed down from father to son or family to family and has a waiting list of seven years for season tickets for the general public. One of the benefits of these visits is that these folks normally visit the library (after normal hours) while in town.

Today's experience was worth a lot. Alan Simpson was the co-author of the Simpson - Bowles Commission appointed by the current president to come up with a plan and path forward to help the nation get back on a sound fiscal footing. It was to include spending limits and controls that would address existing entitlements, a change in tax codes and the abolishment of selected existing tax breaks for special interest groups. Accordingly, It called for a sound fiscal plan that would get us into reasonable balance in 10 years.

As everyone knows, Alan Simpson (R) (82) is a retired senator from Wyoming and is known for his "frank" opinions and statements and in some ways seen as eccentric in some of his views. Erskine Bowles (D) (69), who was Chief of Staff in former administrations, is a respected Democrat and was an equal partner in putting this study and report together with supposedly high respect and influence in the Democratic Party.

The intent was for the current President to use their report as a road map to fiscal responsibility. This report was issued in 2010 and as quickly dismissed by the president as a non-starter prior to the election of 2012 based on its perceived political impact on his re-election.

When I saw Simpson today in the museum, I approached him to welcome him to the museum as a team leader since that is my job for the general public. Normally, VIP's or "celebs" have Foundation escorts during these visits, but in typical Simpson fashion, he wanted to be just another visitor.

QOTD: "It [the global warming coalition] is a powerful convergence of interests among a very large number of elites, including politicians who want to make it seem as though they are saving the world, environmentalists who want to raise money and get control over very large issues like our entire energy policy, media for sensationalism, universities and professors for grants – you can’t hardly get a science grant these days without saying it has something to do with Climate Change.

It is a kind of nasty combination of extreme political ideology and a religious cult all rolled into one. And it’s take over way too much of our thought process and way too much of our priorities. There are millions of children dying every day from preventable vitamin deficiencies and diseases and we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a problem that may not exist." --Patrick Moore, founder of Greenpeace

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Harold Ramis' death on Feb. 24 has left Hollywood's comedy community with a mammoth void, since the writer-director-actor touched the careers of everyone from Bill Murray to Judd Apatow to Jack Black...

His passing also has left Sony scrambling to keep Ghostbusters III on track since Ramis, who died at age 69 due to complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, was to have made a cameo appearance in the film... The sequel's director, Ivan Reitman, is scheduled to meet with Sony production brass in the coming days to assess how to move forward on the project, which is in active development

Every Democrat senator up for reelection this November needs to defend this Harry Reid statement during the campaign.

This is who the Democrats elected as their Senate leader. This is the person to whom they bow and scrape, acting in lockstep, never thinking for themselves, never breaking ranks, never objecting to the bizarre, insane, hateful drivel secreted from his mouth.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insulted victims of ObamaCare on Wednesday – and the three major networks didn’t seem to care...

Speaking on the Senate floor, the Nevada Democrat lashed out at those whose lives have been hurt by the law [at right]...

Those are some inflammatory remarks from Sen. Reid. Yet ABC, NBC, and CBS yawned, failing to mention them on either their Wednesday evening news broadcasts or their Thursday morning shows. ...[A] Fox and Friends segment[, however, did cover Reid's outrageous remarks]:

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Well, certainly yesterday an outrage sort of came after, both on Twitter and on the Senate floor. Harry Reid under great fire for his statements really against Obamacare victims. We’ve been hearing from a lot of them here.

CLAYTON MORRIS: Yeah, this isn't the first time that Harry Reid has been sort of the good cop/bad cop playing bad cop for the Obama administration. He did it for Mitt Romney on the taxes thing. He would not let up on that. And it seems now answering the clarion call about all of these issues about these people who are popping up in these ObamaCare ads, these anti-ObamaCare ads. Are these real people out there? Are these real people with real problems? Well, Senator Harry Reid took to the floor yesterday and said these are all fake. Watch.

HARRY REID: There's plenty of horror stories being told. All of them are untrue. But in those tales turned out to be just that. Tales. Stories made up from whole cloth. Lies distorted by Republicans to grab headlines or make political advertisements.

BRIAN KILMEADE: So Clayton, what you just said, when he came up and brought that thing up about Mitt Romney – ‘oh, by the way, everybody knows Mitt Romney doesn't pay taxes.’ He doesn't even know Mitt Romney. How does – what does he even weigh in on elections for? Unsubstantiated claims. Again, unsubstantiated claims. All made up. Really? Listen.

SHANNON WENDT: When I called and found out ours was being canceled, from there trying to kind of work through that healthcare.gov and just running into glitch after glitch, a dozen different glitches just trying to fill out the application.

JOSIE GRACCHI: My doctors are no longer available in my network. This is delaying all of my treatment and surgery. Most people that get breast cancer don't wait this long to have a surgery.

LAUREN ROBINSON: The premiums wnt through the ceiling when the Affordable Care Act was instated January 1.

MATT ROBINSON: Coupled with not being able to afford it, they were not going to cover his physical therapy, which he needs.

KILMEADE: By the way, what about the 6.2 million people that lost their policies? Is that made up? Even the president walked back that.

I wonder what the millions of Americans who have lost their health coverage think? Not to mention the more than 100 million Americans who will lose coverage next year, as large businesses come under the same mandates as individuals did in 2014.

If you have something to say to Harry Reid, please leave it in the comments. I know one of his staffers will be reading, because I see the traffic from the U.S. Senate's network.

Several restaurants in a Florida chain are asking customers to help foot the bill for Obamacare. Diners at eight Gator's Dockside casual eateries are finding a 1% Affordable Care Act surcharge on their tabs, which comes to 15 cents on a typical $15 lunch tab. Signs on the door and at tables alert diners to the fee, which is also listed separately on the bill.

..."The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors," the sign reads. "Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator's Dockside locations have implemented a 1% surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only."

The company employs a total of 500 people, with about half working full-time. Currently only management receives health benefits, but the restaurant will have to offer coverage to all full-timers once the mandate takes effect. The fee will allow the company to continue offering full-time hours to many workers, according to Sandra Clark, the group's director of operations.

"I'm just trying to keep the employees I have that I've worked hard to train," Clark said.

In addition to the costs of providing health care, the company hired one additional staffer and a consulting firm to make sure it is complying with the law and to assist in the additional tracking of workers' hours and wages required by Obamacare, said Clark... [she] is not sure how much the company is spending on compliance, but estimates that it will cost $500,000 a year to extend insurance to its full-time hourly restaurant workers. The surcharge may bring in about $160,000 a year, she hopes.

Remember: this is happening all over the country.

Why?

Because Democrats hate America.

I can prove it: no matter how disastrous their policies, from the "War on Poverty" to Obamacare, they never, ever examine the results and offer improvements. They despise capitalism, they despise free markets, and they despise America.

And the hard left radical sixties retreads that now control the Democrat Party are out to destroy the system that they grew up hating.

QOTD: "The big government left keeps playing the class warfare card, but even the worst company in the world isn't as larcenously extortionate as the worst politician. Some of the greediest and abusive companies were either created by the government or operate in close partnership with it.

HMO's were created by the government. Banks fed off Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's subsidized mortgages like vultures. Do we really need to go into insurance companies, defense contractors or Sallie Mae. AT&T is considered one of the worst companies in America, and it's also one of the biggest political donors. Is there a connection there? Only that companies close to the government don't need to worry as much about what the public thinks of them.

...American business is looking a lot like Soviet business did, full of companies with contempt for their customers, and an unctuous smile for the government. They know where the money is coming from. And in an era of cut throat price competition, and high labor and regulation costs, it's just easier for them to extract the public's money by going over their heads to the politicians. Don't feel like paying for any of it? It's no longer a free market in which individuals make economic choices, but a collective economy with government fixing prices and then turning around and taking more of your money to pay back the companies to cover the difference. That's how ObamaCare works." --Daniel Greenfield

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A few moments ago, the body was treated to a report from the senator from Iowa about his recent trip to Cuba. Sounded like he had a wonderful trip visiting, what he described as, a real paradise. He bragged about a number of things that he learned on his trip to Cuba that I’d like to address briefly. He bragged about their health care system, medical school is free, doctors are free, clinics are free, their infant mortality rate may be even lower than ours. I wonder if the senator, however, was informed, number one, that the infant mortality rate of Cuba is completely calculated on figures provided by the Cuban government. And, by the way, totalitarian communist regimes don’t have the best history of accurately reporting things. I wonder if he was informed that before Castro, Cuba, by the way, was 13th in the whole world in infant mortality. I wonder if the government officials who hosted him, informed him that in Cuba there are instances reported, including by defectors, that if a child only lives a few hours after birth, they’re not counted as a person who ever lived and therefore don’t count against the mortality rate.

I wonder if our visitors to Cuba were informed that in Cuba, any time there is any sort of problem with the child in utero they are strongly encouraged to undergo abortions, and that’s why they have an abortion rate that skyrockets, and some say, is perhaps the highest the world. I heard him also talk about these great doctors that they have in Cuba. I have no doubt they’re very talented. I’ve met a bunch of them. You know where I met them? In the United States because they defected. Because in Cuba, doctors would rather drive a taxi cab or work in a hotel than be a doctor. I wonder if they spoke to him about the outbreak of cholera that they’ve been unable to control, or about the three-tiered system of health care that exists where foreigners and government officials get health care much better than that that’s available to the general population.

I also heard him speak about baseball and I know that Cubans love baseball, since my parents were from there and I grew up in a community surrounded by it. He talked about these great baseball players that are coming from Cuba — and they are. But I wonder if they informed him — in fact, I bet you they didn’t talk about those players to him because every single one of those guys playing in the Major Leagues defected. They left Cuba to play here.

Carol, in your recent CNN opinion piece, the headline was “Why are we still debating climate change?”. The very first statement in the article that followed was “There is no debate”.

The answer to your question is actually right in your own article. I’ll get to that in a bit, please bear with me. I wanted to touch on your claim that there is no debate first. I’d like you to consider the following statement, which I provide with no intent of malice whatsoever, only as a means of making a point.

Carol Costello is stupid. There is no debate.

Now what would you think if you saw this in print, followed by a long explanation as to what is wrong with people who don’t agree, and a refusal to examine any facts related to the accusation? I imagine you’d be miffed. I imagine also that any examination of the facts would prove me wrong, I seriously doubt that such a statement would stand up to any fair debate of the matter. Which brings me to a question Carol:

If the facts supporting Climate Change are so obvious, should not debating the facts of the matter strengthen those facts? Just as you would be eager to prove that you are not, in fact, stupid, should you not be equally as eager to prove your opinion by engaging in factual debate?

While you ponder that, and keeping in mind that I did say the answer to your question is in your article and I would get to that, let’s examine the only fact upon which your argument rests, which is that there is a consensus among 97% of scientists. Well Carol, I read that study. Did you? I’m guessing not.

The building was gutted by the blaze. Two bodies were found in the rubble, and fourteen people were hospitalized, one of whom died later. Within 72 hours, the building had been pulled down into a heap of rubble by a backhoe.

Two days after the blast, before any real investigation occurred — which could never be conducted, anyway, with the potential crime scene destroyed — Greg Boosalis, the supervisory special agent with the FBI in Minneapolis, told the press that there was “no evidence of terrorist activity”.

Ever since that day I have been asking the question: How did the FBI know there was no terrorist activity without examining the scene of the explosion?

You reach out to your Republican friend who can’t stand Obama, but is basically a nice person, but you know, they watch the wrong newscast... We’re going to make a big push these last few weeks. But as I said, I can talk, my team can talk here in Washington, but it’s not going to make as much of a difference as if you aren’t out there making the case. The work you’re doing is God’s work. It is hard work. You don’t have the prerogative to just go around and say no to everything. You don’t have the prerogative to just be cynical. You don’t think that the country moves forward just on its own. You understand that it happens because ordinary people come together to do some extraordinary things.

QOTD: "I don’t mind telling you I was a bit troubled today by the tone of the president. When you have governors, and we all compete against each other–we are the laboratories of innovation–and for the President of the United States to look Democrat and Republican governors in the eye and say, ‘I do not trust you to make decisions in your state about issues of education, about transportation infrastructure,’…that is really troubling.

...As a matter of fact, I heard him (Obama) say in that meeting, ‘If I hear any of you pushing back, making statements about Washington spends too much money, you’ll hear from me.’ If I’m a Democrat governor, if I’m a Republican governor, I’m highly offended by that." --Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) describing his meeting with President Obama

Defense: The U.S. withdrawal from global leadership continues as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposes cutting the Army to its smallest size since before World War II, leaving no replacement except tyrants and chaos.

The best analysis of the devastating military cuts ordered by President Obama came from former Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday's "Hannity": "He would much rather spend the money on food stamps than he would on a strong military or support for our troops."

Considering the Obama administration has ignored or violated the Constitution in so many ways, we're not surprised that the imperative to provide for the common defense has been reduced to the level of nonessential discretionary spending. Nor are we surprised Secretary Hagel is the messenger delivering this bad news.

His views differ sharply from those of his predecessor Leon Panetta, who warned that under Obama's budget cuts and sequestration our military would have "(t)he smallest ground forces since 1940," "a fleet of fewer than 230 ships, the smallest level since 1915," and the "smallest tactical fighter force in the history of the Air Force."

Hagel made news in 2011 when he told the Financial Times, after a "trim" of $487 billion from the Pentagon budget, that he wanted even more cuts. "I don't think that our military has really looked at themselves strategically, critically, in a long, long time," Hagel said.

Now we know what they mean. Under the new proposal, the Army would drop over the coming years to between 440,000 and 450,000, the lowest level since 1940 prior to our jolting entry into World War II.

Carl Spackler: So I jump ship in Hong Kong and I make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over there in the Himalayas.

Angie D'Annunzio: A looper?

Carl Spackler: A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald . . . striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one—big hitter, the Lama—long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. You know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga . . . gunga, gunga-lagunga. So we finish the eighteen and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

QOTD: "“I have not been a strong supporter of Barack Obama, but this [the 2014 massive defense cuts] really is over the top. :It does enormous long-term damage to our military. They act as though it is like highway spending and you can turn it on and off. The fact of the matter is he is having a huge impact on the ability of future presidents to deal with future crises that are bound to arise.

[I] think the whole thing is not driven by any change in world circumstances. It is driven by budget considerations. He would much rather spend the money on food stamps than he would on a strong military or support for our troops." --Dick Cheney

Monday, February 24, 2014

Scientists say they have observed a record-breaking impact on the Moon.

Spanish astronomers spotted a meteorite with a mass of about half a tonne crashing into the lunar surface last September... They say the collision would have generated a flash of light so bright that it would have been visible from Earth.

..."This is the largest, brightest impact we have ever observed on the Moon," said Prof Jose Madiedo, of the University of Huelva in south-western Spain... "The impact we detected lasted over eight seconds... "Usually lunar impacts have a very short duration - just a fraction of a second. But the impact we detected lasted over eight seconds. It was almost as bright as the Pole Star, which makes it the brightest impact event that we have recorded from Earth," said Prof Madiedo.

The researchers say a lump of rock weighing about 400kg (900lb) and travelling at 61,000km/h (38,000mph) slammed into the surface of the Moon... They believe the dense mass, which had a width of 0.6-1.4m (2-4.6ft), hit with energy equivalent to about 15 tonnes of TNT...

...Unlike Earth, the Moon has no atmosphere to shield it from meteorite collisions, and its surface shows a record of every strike.

The impact is said to have left a crater more than 40 meters wide, or roughly the circumference of Michael Moore, if memory serves.

One of the tea-party leaders in Congress believes the days of Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, as speaker of the House of Representatives are numbered... Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, ... predicts Boehner will no longer be speaker “by next January,” regardless of the outcome of the midterm election in November.

The Texan doesn’t think it will take a coup to remove Boehner, believing the tide is already moving in that direction, and saying, “I think people are ready for a change.”

And Gohmert would see that as a change for the better, because, he says, “We’ve got to have someone who is smart enough to realize” it was (Sen. Majority Leader) Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who shut down the government, not the GOP.

That is precisely right. Boehner had a unique opportunity on Leno to sell the conservative vision of opportunity, full employment and less government. Instead, he slouched in his chair, blamed his own party for the shutdown, talked about himself, and -- in general -- exhibited all the charisma of a moldy blanket.

In addition to predicting the downfall of Boehner as speaker, Gohmert also [said]:

• He believes the majority of GOP voters have tea-party values
• He approves of GOP primary challenges to establishment incumbents by conservatives
• He suspects the establishment GOP is at war with the tea party because of “fear”
• He feels it is realistic to believe a tea-party candidate could win the presidency

...Gohmert described tea parties as the GOP’s natural constituency, taxpayers who are tired of seeing government waste and abuse.

...The lawmaker predicted that if the GOP disenfranchises tea-party voters, they will stay home on Election Day... “Look at 2012,” he said. “You had millions and millions of Americans who were so turned off by an extremely nice, but moderate (GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney) that the Republican establishment put up for us.”

Soft-spoken but adamant, Gohmert insisted, “It should be pretty clear by now” that what he called “a very nice moderate like Bob Dole, or a moderate but good man with the Hanoi Hilton in his background, like John McCain, or an extremely nice moderate like Mitt Romney, are not the answer to getting voters out and taking the Senate majority back.”

He warned, “I hope they’ll wake up before they ruin the chance of taking the Senate this year.”

I encourage you to help Mr. Boehner on his way back to the private sector by supporting conservative Republican J.D. Winteregg for Congress. I'm sure Mr. Boehner's tanning booth operator, liquor purveyor and favorite Speedway cigarette salesman will all appreciate the help.

The Ukraine Gun Owners Association wants the new government to add their own right to bear arms to the country's constitution.

As of today Ukrainian Gun Owners Association will start to work on the preparation of amendments to the Constitution, which will provide an unconditional right for Ukrainian citizens to bear arms.

People gathered in Independence Square in Kiev after President Viktor Yanukovich rejected a European Union trade deal for a $15 billion bailout from Russia in November. It was relatively peaceful for three months, but violence escalated on February 18. Over 70 people died during the week and amateur videos showed snipers shooting at unarmed protesters.

People should have the right to bear arms, which will be put in written into the Constitution.

Authorities should not and will not be stronger than its people!

Armed people are treated with respect!

America's founding fathers implemented the Second Amendment because it is a natural right for people to defend themselves.

According to GunPolicy.org, Ukraine's gun laws are described as restrictive. The government owns seven million guns while there are only three million guns for private citizens. A citizen must prove they have a legitimate reason to own a firearm.

QOTD: "What we’ve seen in the Ukraine is the Government using their powers to arrest and murder civilians who can only respond with gasoline bombs and rocks.

The idea is that before some faceless Government bureaucrat orders the troops in they will have to stop and reflect on what they will do if the American population resists.

Only when Government is less powerful than the public can freedom exist.

And the only way the public can hold more leverage than the Government is if they are armed.

If we look through our history books we don’t see many examples of a population destroying itself but we do see numerous examples of a population being destroyed by its Government." --Capitol Commentary

Randy Forbes is a lonely man. President Obama’s stewardship of American armed forces has been a dismal failure, yet few on Capitol Hill have waved red flags over it.

Forbes, however, has been waving them furiously.

The Republican congressman from Virginia recently penned a pointed letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. It’s a warning shot, discharged in anticipation of the Quadrennial Defense Review, the report the Pentagon must deliver to Congress every four years to layout the long-term plans, concerns and requirements for the armed forces.

“The QDR has become an exercise in lowest-common-denominator thinking that fails to light a way forward for our long-term military planning,” Forbes wrote Hagel. The lawmaker fears that the forthcoming QDR will amount to little more than a rubber stamp for slashing military capabilities and lowering readiness.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — It’s been a parade of disappointment at the Illinois Capitol this month.

Public schools, universities, hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, public health advocates and just about anybody else that receives state money have all trudged to the statehouse to be publicly reminded that Illinois will lose more than $1 billion if the 2011 “temporary” income tax increases are allowed to expire.

“Should we end up having to cut $1.9 billion out of our revenue stream this year…that would mean every single program mentioned as being of interest to (the Illinois Human Service committee) would have to be cut in its entirety,” state Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, cautioned lawmakers Thursday.

It’s not just that the state may take in less in tax dollars. Illinois is also spending more.